


Pecking Order

by padfootfreak14



Category: Jurassic Park - All Media Types, Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23683525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/padfootfreak14/pseuds/padfootfreak14
Summary: one where one of the raptors challenges the reader (owens gf) as the alpha female and reader has to show her dominance
Relationships: Owen Grady/Reader
Kudos: 32





	Pecking Order

You had what some people liked to call a dangerous affection for your boyfriend’s raptors. Those same people were also too afraid to go near the paddock they were kept in so you didn’t hold much stock in their opinions. Of course they didn’t understand how much you cared for the pack when they were practically too afraid to even listen to you talk about them. Of course the girls were dangerous, but just about every dinosaur on this island was regardless of whether they could eat you or kill you by sheer size. So what if the raptors were probably smarter than most of the people on the island, you’d fallen in love with them at first sight. It was about the same with their trainer as well.

Your first day at the paddock was as clear in your mind now as it was when it happened. You had leapt at the opportunity to come work with the pack hunters, provide insight with your own knowledge of other pack hunting animals. You went in with the knowledge that one wrong move could be the difference between life and death with the raptors. Considerable safety measures were in place, the main gate that was never opened, least of all if the raptors were loose inside, the safety cage for closer observation while still having a gate between you and the raptors, the head restraints inside. The most dangerous part was probably the catwalks because it was just a rail that kept you there. The paddock was overall just that, a bland container to keep what it held right where it was.

The raptors, they were awe inspiring. Though not physically accurate to their name they were absolutely beautiful. You would vehemently deny using the word adorable as well at one point to describe the young raptors. You’d nearly forgotten that they were dangerous animals watching them chase each other. You’d very nearly shoved their trainer over the rails when he managed to sneak up behind you and scare the hell out of you. At least you would’ve if you hadn’t jumped and probably would have ended up over the rain yourself if he hadn’t grabbed you. Really you nearly shoved him off the catwalk when the momentum ended up with you flat on your back on the catwalk with him on top of you.

The swear you had prepared died on the tip of your tongue and any consideration you had for pushing him in to the enclosure below died along with it. You were trapped under his gaze, under his body, just as the raptors below were trapped in their enclosure. The small distance between your faces started to close, your lips hardly an inch from each other when the cries from the young raptors below you broke you both from your stupor. He had clamored off you before helping you to your feet, both of you disappointed at the interruption.

“You must be Owen.” You managed to force out, trying to find some way to regain your composure after very nearly making out with the man. All you managed to do was realize that you were still very much on board with the idea of just skipping the introductions altogether. Never in your life had you felt that kind of reaction to another human being and it wasn’t going to go away any time in the foreseeable future. Of course you didn’t exactly know Owen was feeling the same thing you were, but you weren’t here for that you were supposed to be here for the raptors.

Owen was not having an easy time with this. He came up here with every intention of scolding you for getting distracted and not only didn’t notice him coming over but you were leaning over the rail. Instead he scared you and had to catch you before you ended up over the rail but ended up pinning you under him to the catwalk. He was still cursing the girls for ruining what had turned in to the perfect moment to do something else with his mouth other than yell at you. He’d gotten so unbelievably lost staring in to your eyes, he couldn’t remember ever feeling so drawn to someone before. It took him a moment after he realized you knew who he was to figure out why, to remember that there was supposed to be an animal behaviorist that he’d be working with. You were not what he was expecting in the least.

“And you must be that behaviorist they kept swearing was coming.”

“Y/N. I’m sure you were probably expecting some crotchety old man or something.”

“They tend to not send women out here very often. The ones they have haven’t lasted very long.”

“Because of their coworkers or the raptors?” He looked a little irritated by the question.

“Never heard any complaints about their coworkers, but every woman that’s come to work out here gets the idea that the pack isn’t a big fan of them.”

“I take it by your tone that your raptors aren’t big fans of other girls being around then.”

“No. You try telling that to management and they take it the wrong way.”

“Well it is a female pack being led by a human male. My best guess without seeing how they interact is that they take other human females as competition or someone getting too close to you.”

“You’re welcome to come down and see for yourself?”

“Have they been biting?”

“I don’t let people close enough to get bit, most don’t even get to go in the cage.”

“So I’m a special exception?” God you had no idea “How close can I get?”

“Kind of hard to gauge their behavior from up here, how close is up to you. If you think you’re up to being in an open space with them that’s fine for now. They’re still small enough to do it.” You nearly squealed, Owen caught the way your mouth started opening before you clamped it shut. He could tell by the way your eyes lit up that you were more than on board, now if he could just keep the girls from scaring you off. Their sometimes unnerving stare had scared off most of the women that had been working there, and several of the men as well. Owen chalked it up to them just not being up to working at the paddock. But you, you he really wanted to be up for the job.

At the very least you were full of enthusiasm, if not for the stairs you’d probably have been running to the cage. Owen had you thinking he was going intentionally slow just to tease you, or maybe it was so you’d grab his arm and drag him along. You could see what he meant about the way the raptors stared at people, if they’d managed to scare people off when they were this young you could only imagine what they’d do once fully grown. You however, weren’t put off by the way they examined you. You’d been told that Owen was there when they hatched, so they had known him their entire lives to this point. How distinctly they recognized him as their leader you weren’t sure but clearly it was enough that any other female around was regarded with caution and sometimes hostility. It could even have been that they didn’t fully grasp the species difference and saw the women as some female from an outside pack trying to take away their alpha as her mate.

It would take some time observing them to really grasp them as a species and more importantly as a pack. They weren’t the pack hunting mammals you usually worked with. Your past work gave you only vague ideas as to what could be going on and uncertainty as to how much of it could hold true with this pack of dinosaurs. They certainly didn’t seem happy at how close you were to Owen, the degree of their displeasure varied amongst the four. Owen either didn’t notice or didn’t care and pulled you against him as he opened up the gate separating them from you.

Going off what you’d told him, Owen had a decent idea what impression he was giving his raptors by wrapping his arm around you and pulling you against him. He couldn’t help but notice that you didn’t make any attempt to move away from him, if anything it felt like you were relaxing against him. If that didn’t give the raptors ideas after what he was sure they’d seen up on the catwalk he wasn’t sure what else could. Maybe it was a little presumptuous of him, but he knew he wasn’t the only one that had been moving in for a kiss. He didn’t want the girls to scare you off before he even had the chance to get to know you, before he could see just how deep that feeling you left in his chest could go. It was bad enough that he could barely focus on staying alert around the loose raptors, all he could think about was whether you’d have lunch with him…or dinner…or both if he could play his cards right.

Owen’s apparent distraction gave you plenty of time to slide out of his grip and kneel in front of the group of raptors. Their attention was solely on you, one of them hissing in your direction but not making any other move. That was enough to get Owen to fully realize that you’d dropped down to eye level with the girls. He did so as well, just so he was closer and able to grab one of them if they tried to come at you. Echo instead made a beeline straight for him, claiming herself a perch on his lap.

“Your lap raptor is definitely not a fan of me,” You commented with a laugh, trying to keep the one that was trying to circle you in your sight only for her to disappear and then reappear suddenly on your leg. The other two seemed less impressed by the two of you, keeping a watchful eye over the situation. They didn’t miss the way their alpha kept glancing over at you or the subtle way you leaned in to him.

“Echo isn’t a fan of most people. Charlie likes you though.” Owen was almost surprised at how quickly Charlie had taken up a perch on your leg. Echo didn’t surprise him, she was standoffish and a bit ill tempered. He wasn’t any more surprised that Blue and Delta were just watching, they did surprise him when they jumped at you, upsetting the balance you’d been keeping.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” You assured, catching Owen from the corner of your eye as he moved to get you out of the raptor circle. “They aren’t trying to hurt me.” Mind you, it was incredibly bizarre to have one raptor leaning over your face as you were on your back in all the wood chips with another sitting on your stomach. Charlie was still enjoying your leg after she’d righted her balance.

“You’re on your back surrounded by raptors,” Owen responded as he move Echo off his lap and tried to shoo away your little posse. He managed to scatter away Echo and Charlie, Delta was slower to move and Blue was more than happy to just stare at you. It took a shove to remove her from her position, which moved Owen in such a way that he was yet again leaning over you. The strong desire to kiss you flared up again but you were both still surrounded by the pack and he really didn’t need to explain to someone that one or both of you got bit because he was more preoccupied with making out with you than putting the raptors away.

Your intention had been to pull yourself up, but all putting your hand on Owen’s shoulder did was pull him down to you. A vague alarm bell rang in your head that maybe this wasn’t the most ideal time but god if you couldn’t bring yourself to care. The feeling of his lips pressing against yours was enough to send all other thoughts fleeing. If you hadn’t had the raptors thinking something was going on between you and Owen before, they had more than enough of that now. You barely registered the hiss but Owen most definitely noticed the tug on his foot as Echo grabbed his boot and tried to drag him away. You found it far more comical than he did, but then again you were the one laying there watching the young raptor trying to drag him away.

“I think she’s trying to tell you to keep it in your pants instead of trying to seduce the new girl,” You teased, sitting up on your elbows. Charlie took it as her cue to rejoin you while Delta, thinking Echo was trying to play with Owen, started helping her sister try to drag Owen away. You let out a little shriek as he grabbed your ankle. Charlie grumbled as Owen and her sisters drug you away from her “Owen!” You laughed. Charlie was less amused and pounced on her sisters, knocking them off Owen’s feet. By the time any of the raptors realized that they were alone inside their paddock the gate was closed behind them and you and Owen were laughing at them from the safety cage.

“So uh. You wanna get lunch or something?”

“The back of my clothes is covered in dirt and wood, my hair is a mess and I’m pretty sure it’s also full of wood chips.”

“That doesn’t sound like a no.”

“It’s a you couldn’t pay me to go out in public looking like this.” You wondered how well he’d pick up that you weren’t shooting him down. Either way you weren’t going anywhere public looking like you’d been rolling around in the dirt, people would take one look at you and Owen and have a pretty good idea as to what you were up to. You weren’t however, even the least bit opposed to taking this elsewhere. On a professional level you ought to get more details about the paddock, learn more about how the raptors had behaved so far. On a very personal level, you wanted to get to know their trainer better, much better.

“Soo my place then?” He might’ve been taking a stab in the dark, but you still sounded reasonably enough like you were flirting with him. If he was wrong then he was wrong, he’d apologize for getting the wrong idea to keep things going smoothly with you and figure it out from there. He really hoped he wasn’t getting the wrong idea. As he picked some of the small pieces of wood from your hair all he could think about is how much he’d still like to press you against the side of the cage and continue what you’d started.

“That would probably be ideal. No raptors to try and drag you away when you’re putting your hand up my shirt, hopefully no more wood chips in my hair and clothes.”

“I’d be more than happy to fish them all out for you.” You were going to have a hell of a time trying to work with him. You could tell already you would more than cross the line between work and personal, far more than you’d already crossed it by making out with him in the cage. Maybe it wasn’t the best or most professional way to start the new job but no one had told you that it was strictly against the rules to be in any way involved with your coworker. That of course didn’t mean that there wasn’t some policy about it but if they didn’t tell you something like that before sending you out here to work with Owen then that was their fault. How could you be blamed for falling so hard for him?

“Nice try. Lunch first and maybe if you play your cards right we can pick up where we left off.” Owen could go for that, impress you with whatever he whipped up for lunch, take you out by the water. Anyone that at ease around the raptors could probably appreciate that, at least that’s what he was hoping for. “You lead, I’ll follow.” You remarked as you slipped away from him. “I don’t want to leave my ride here.”

Owen stared at you amused, raising an eyebrow but biting back what he had the perfect opportunity to say in light of the look you shot him. At least you knew, that made it almost as funny. A glance back at the paddock found Echo still standing by the gate with her teeth barred but Owen hadn’t expected you to be able to walk in and have the entire pack like you. Echo was a hard one to crack in the first place but he was still surprised Blue had taken to you as well as she did.

You gave Owen a little credit for not making a comment at your wording anyway, it was your own fault for not thinking better of it. Your main thought had been that you weren’t sure how long you intended to stay over Owen’s and you didn’t want the vehicle sitting there for an undetermined amount of time. A few hours and it just looked like you’d gone off with Owen, all day or in to the next day and you’d probably be making an interesting impression on your new coworkers given that it would’ve meant leaving the vehicle there and showing up with Owen in his. On his, as you realized that he’d apparently come on a motorcycle.

The ride to Owen’s wasn’t terribly long, at least it didn’t seem that way but you weren’t sure. It was scenic and you easily got distracted by the view. The view when you reached his place blew that out of the water and made you more than a little jealous that your own looked nothing like this. You hadn’t expected him to necessarily be in the employee housing, you’d known him a considerably short time and couldn’t imagine him living there at all. And that lake! You thought it was a lake, you didn’t really know the specifics of what made something a lake but it looked too big to be a pond at any rate. You would’ve killed to have something like that, come out in the morning and just look out over the water as you had a cup of coffee.

“You plan on getting out or just gawking?” Owen teased as he opened your door.

"I am floored by my raging jealousy right now, you have no idea.”

“You can explore while I make lunch if you want to.”

“Or, you could show me around after we eat.” Amazed as you were by your surroundings, spending some time trying to actually get to know Owen was a more appealing thought. You wanted to know if it was just your hormones getting the better of you or if there was something really there between you. You were hoping for the latter, not that the former would have stopped you at any rate. If there was something then great, you’d hit the jackpot. If there wasn’t anything there then at the very least there was some serious attraction and you’d play that out anyway.

Owen was happier about your suggestion than he probably should have been. He hadn’t been about to suggest that you spend every second right there with him of course. You could take the chance to look around or whatever you wanted, but somehow he was surprised that you wanted to just hang out. He shouldn’t have been, the whole point of this was to hang out, get to know each other and all that. He kept having to bit his tongue to keep himself from saying anything too inappropriate before he got you thinking that he really was just trying to seduce you.

Lunch went off without a hitch. You listened to stories of Owen’s time in the Navy, listened to him talk about when the girls hatched, how they were behaving so far. He in turn got to hear about your previous work with pack hunters and that you’d actually requested to work with the raptors. As if either of you had felt like you needed more things about the other to find impressive. You were confused when he asked if you were seeing anyone, like you just naturally made out with other guys if you were in a relationship. When you replied that of course you weren’t seeing anyone his response made you kick him under the picnic table. Well now you are. You did feel the need to call him a presumptuous bastard but you were pleased with the knowledge that you definitely weren’t the only one feeling something more than just lust.

To Owen’s enjoyment, you did stay the afternoon, and for dinner and by the time you realized how late it was the sunlight had gone leaving only the moon and stars as light. That was how you fell asleep, laying in the grass next to Owen, watching the night sky. When you woke up your brain hadn’t quite caught up. It was used to you waking up in your bed alone but here you were surrounded by unfamiliar walls in an unfamiliar bed with an almost familiar arm wrapped around you. For a moment the first thing that came to mind was making out with Owen in the cage until the rest filled itself in. You fell asleep outside, you distinctly remembered getting really drowsy. Logic supplied that naturally you must still be at Owen’s, he probably brought you to bed after you fell asleep. Even sleeping the man still had his hand up your shirt.

You shifted back against him, enjoying the warmth of his body and the weight of his arm wrapped around you. It was so peaceful out here, no noise from your neighbors milling around on their way in to whatever job they had, just the sounds of the island. Owen was definitely going to be hard pressed to get you to ever leave.

“You awake?” You heard Owen mumble behind you.

“Definitely not,” You laughed softly

“Didn’t think so,” He laughed back, moving your hair to kiss your neck. “Too forward?” God the giant fucking sweet heart. You probably could’ve woken up stark naked and with his hand between your legs and you wouldn’t have called him too forward, which you did also have to admit was completely your lust talking. Realistically it was completely a reasonable question to ask someone you hadn’t even known a full day even if you had already made out with them repeatedly. You could suppose that waking up in bed with someone was a bit different of a situation.

“Not even close,” You mumbled, laughing when you felt his fingers against the skin of your torso. “You question if kissing my neck is too forward while your hand is up my shirt again!” You also realized as you twisted around to look at him that he wasn’t even wearing a shirt himself. Decidedly grossly unfair of him to do that to you. You couldn’t even contemplate how you were supposed to even think. Owen thought plenty clearly enough, taking full advantage of you turning to press your back against the bed and cut off anything else you might’ve had to say. You didn’t mind, you’d gotten attached to the feeling of wrapping your arms around his neck almost as quickly as you’d gotten attached to him, that way it pulled him just that little bit closer to you.

“Keep that up and you’ll never get me to leave,” You said breathlessly when Owen managed to force himself to let you both breathe.

“If you’re trying to get me to stop that’s a bad way to try and do it.” He muttered back, pressing his lips against the base of your neck. Hell, he could have gone all day like this just lying in bed with you and the sporadic lazy make-out sessions. He’d been thrilled that you stayed through dinner and over the moon when you’d fallen asleep half lying against him outside. As much as he didn’t think your clothes looked comfortable to sleep in, he’d left you just as dressed as you had been save your shoes. He hadn’t even been sure how you’d react to waking up in bed with him let alone if you woke up in bed with him and in nothing but your underwear. Regardless he’d felt that it wasn’t really his place to undress you, if you’d have happened to wake up and do it yourself that would’ve been another thing.

“The novelty would wear off and you’d get sick of me sooner than you think.” You said it half-jokingly, but it ended up being wrong on all accounts. It frequently ended up that you spent the night with Owen, especially if you had to be at the paddock early. Occasionally if it was a late day or a day off he’d come to yours but more often than not, nights together were spent in the peace of his bungalow. When you and Owen had finally forced yourselves out of bed that first morning and gone in, you had gotten some god awful looks from his raptors. Your new coworkers chalked it up to their already common knowledge that the girls weren’t fond of other girls around Owen but the two of you knew that especially when you went in the cage the raptors could smell the two of you all over each other. Echo was so offended that she wouldn’t even come near the gate.

Despite their wariness of you, there was only one thing you loved more than the raptor pack and no amount of edgy looks from Echo or any other part of the pack could keep you from staying quite happily at Owen’s side. Echo was the hold out, even when the other three had accepted that Owen was very fond of you she refused. You could only imagine how she saw you, but that didn’t change anything. It was enough for you and Owen both that most of the pack accepted you, especially when you came in one morning smelling of each other in a different way. It settled it for them, their alpha had chosen himself a mate and that was that.

Echo continued being the troublesome one and you weren’t the only one she felt challenged by. Unfortunately for her, Blue wasn’t giving up her position as the alpha raptor and reminded her sister exactly how the pecking order of their pack went. You still felt bad for her, even if Echo still hated you she was actually your favorite. It made you feel bad seeing her fight with her sister and not be able to even help her after the fact. Even as a pack specialist you had developed this tendency around them to forget that they were a pack of wild animals. Owen had to remind you on more than one occasion that as much as you wanted to think of the six of you as an odd little family, the girls were still incredibly dangerous animals.

You knew that of course, you knew before Echo and Blue fought, before some idiot new guy thought he’d show how cool he was and go right up to the gate, before Owen made it a rule that no one unauthorized went in the cage at all because Echo almost took his hand off. What Owen failed to consider were all the times that the girls had shown you how intelligent they were, the times that at least three of them had shown you that they had accepted you as Owen’s ‘mate.’ 

Most memorably was when yet another idiot new guy seemed to not understand boundaries. Owen having to leave for a little while seemed to be his cue to continually harass you, which you ignored. You were here to do a job, if the moron didn’t get the hint that was his problem not yours. The senior members of the team had known since day one exactly who you belonged to. None of them had even been stupid enough to flirt with you and who could blame them when getting to you essentially meant getting not only through Owen but the pack of raptors. Every woman on the island had learned that the same held true for anyone that made a try for Owen, he was yours and you would defend that claim.

Jobs are hard to do when you’ve got a clueless idiot trailing after you, ignoring the warning glances that every other person at the paddock was giving him. Better yet was that he had the gall to follow you in to the cage. He hadn’t seemed to notice the immediate attention he got from the girls, this male who kept getting too close. Echo couldn’t stand you and she looked agitated, whether she liked you or not no one but Owen got to be near you like that. If she could speak so you’d understand her she would’ve told you to just open the gate, she’d take care of this problem and she’d even leave you alone.

The more agitated you got with the situation, the more agitated the girls got, not that the idiot cared to notice that. If you’d have been paying more attention you might’ve notice that he was getting dangerously close to the gate that the girls were circling. To a point you blamed yourself, you should’ve been paying more attention to what he was doing instead of trying to get through with your work in the cage and get the hell away from him before he tried anything else. You should’ve seen how little common sense this idiot had.

He had opened the gate before you could even get near the controls to stop him, proclaiming that anybody could snap their fingers and tell a dumb animal what to do, that Owen was nothing special. His next biggest mistake, outside of everything else, was shoving you back when you rushed to close the gate. Before you’d even hit the ground he was gone, pulled under the opening gate by some very pissed off raptors. You weren’t sure where the containment team was but even if they’d been right there they couldn’t have done anything. He got a very clear lesson about these ‘dumb animals’ and you got a very visual demonstration of what the girls would do to anyone that tried anything with their pack.

You had barely managed to find enough strength in your limbs to get off the ground and close the gate when you heard Barry at the cage door. You warned him not to come in and stumbled from the cage yourself before losing everything you’d eaten that day. You wouldn’t let anyone touch you for fear that in their current mood the girls would deem them threats as well. Owen got back to find you in the tent with your head between your knees. You were sure he’d been told already that you hadn’t been hurt but that didn’t stop him from frantically checking you over before pulling you against him. That was as long as you lasted before your hastily erected dam broke and you lost it.

It wasn’t a good situation to be in. The last time there was an incident, the guy even admitted after the fact that it was a really bad idea to go near the raptors, and you all admitted that he most certainly had it coming. You still saw him from time to time around the park even, but this was a different story. Echo hadn’t gotten pissy and almost taken someone’s hand off, they had collectively drug someone through the open gate, in to their paddock and killed them. Killed them in front of you and none of you dared voice the knowledge that they’d done it not because they were hungry or because they could but because someone had crossed their line for what was acceptable when it came to their pack leaders. It had taken Owen at least an hour to calm you down, by which time the girls had been locked in their restraints and the mess cleaned up.

Owen looked like he was ready to have heart failure when you said you wanted back in the cage. He’d spend the last hour or so trying to calm you down and now you wanted back in with the girls. More so, he was the only one you let in the cage with you, everyone else got sent off so it was just the two of you and the girls. The thought of it made your heart race, small spikes of fear popping up but even Echo didn’t look at you like she wanted to hurt you. If anything the four of them seemed overly pleased with themselves, looking to Owen for his approval at how they handled the threat to his mate. Even if Owen couldn’t bring himself to give them approval for killing someone, you inadvertently did so.

Your intention had been to assure them they weren’t in trouble, you understood that they didn’t have degrees of punishment like humans did. They perceived a threat to their pack and they eliminated the threat. It wasn’t that big a deal to you, it was just an ass hole that if you didn’t hit Owen probably would have when he got back. It wasn’t the first time some guy thought he was better than what you had and you were sure it wouldn’t be the last either. Blue took the hand you placed on the side of her face as approval, as your way of telling her that she’d done a good job which meant that the pack had done a good job. Seeing Owen seemed to erase most of their irritation, they were much calmer by the time you left than when you’d both stepped in to the cage.

Everything with the raptors was a matter of perception, communication with them wasn’t simple because while you were sure they understood you, you could never entirely understand them except from a behavioral standpoint. You knew they relaxed because Owen being there meant that they knew he could protect you while they were stuck in the paddock. It meant that the pack was safe because as far as they were concerned their alpha protected them. In return, when he wasn’t there it was their responsibility to protect you. Protecting the mate ensured continuation of the pack, that was just how it worked in packs. You still weren’t sure that Owen entirely understood just how complex the relationship he had with the girls was. Despite the difference in species the girls had grown to accept Owen as their alpha. Every interaction he had with them since the moment they hatched fostered that relationship and the continuation of that relationship depended on future interactions.

Morally, you were both uncomfortable letting the girls think it was okay to kill someone, but what you were doing here meant that you had to maintain the relationship you had with them. Scolding or punishing them for acting on instinct would’ve been incredibly detrimental and undermined Owen’s alpha status more than anything else could have. It would have made him weak in their eyes, an alpha that wouldn’t do what needed to be done to protect the pack.

That delicate balance would have been more obvious if you could see inside Echo’s head and know exactly how she saw you. To her you were still just the weak human that her alpha had chosen as his mate. You weren’t strong enough to lead them, talking to them all the time, leaving it up to the pack to step in when a boundary had been crossed. Echo had been more than happy to take care of that interloper but she still thought that since you were supposed to be second highest in the pack it should have been you taking care of it. You didn’t know any of that, you just took it as her being picky and stubborn about you and maybe one day she’d grow out of it.

Life at the paddock went on as it always had, you did your work and you went home. By the time you got home you wished you were back at the paddock, especially when the rumors started circulating and went from your neighbors asking if the raptors had really eaten someone to the whispers behind your back that you’d fed someone to the raptors. Occasionally that was changed to Owen feeding someone to the raptors for flirting with you. Either way home was less than pleasant and remarkably lonely. Even at the paddock everyone tended to give you a wide berth for a good long while before things had calmed down enough that they didn’t think they’d end up raptor chow.

Owen was less than thrilled at the cut in the amount of time he had to spend with you and even less thrilled at your mood when you’d come in to work. In his mind there was only one solution. He couldn’t make more time, couldn’t change the amount of work he had to do. What he could do was cut out the one thing he thought was making things the worst for you and that was having to go back to your house. Sure his place wasn’t very big by any means but you didn’t have a ton of stuff and he had that storage container tucked off from when he’d first moved to the island that was half empty. He didn’t figure you’d have a problem keeping anything you wouldn’t immediately need in it and he was right.

You would have left everything you owned if it meant being away from your neighbors and that sterile feeling house, especially when it meant moving in with Owen. You’d been enamored with his place since day one and if you were being honest with yourself he could’ve asked you to stay then and you would’ve. You didn’t mind the close quarters any more than Owen did, before everything got busy the two of you were practically always together here anyway so it was little more than making it permanent. No more having to go home to get fresh clothes or the long drives between, just waking up every morning wrapped up in each other. You couldn’t have come up with a better idea if you tried. Better yet, when it got around that the two of you were full time living together, what little flirting was still directed at you pretty much disappeared. Apparently it got the point across that the two of you weren’t just having a long term fling.

It was easy to fall in to a comfortable routine again but some things that shouldn’t have been forgotten largely were. You weren’t exempt from the paddock rule by any means even if you were one of the few people still allowed in the cage. Owen was usually quick to remind you of that, and to remind you that just because they accepted you as his other half didn’t necessarily mean you were safe from girls. You had developed the habit of forgetting that when you were at the gate talking to them. More than once you’d turned away from the gate and gotten a scolding from Owen about it, who didn’t care if you were one foot from the gate or ten. Most times he didn’t even really like you being in the cage alone but there was only so much he could ask of you without being overbearing.

Overbearing from his perspective was different than it was from yours. Most of the time you felt he got a little too intense about things. Most people figured that if you were dating the boss you would get some leeway, some wiggle room with the rules. Not with Owen, if anything he was stricter with you than with everyone else. He would claim it was because he cared so much, that he was hard on you because he wanted you to be safe. That didn’t mean it didn’t drive you up a wall, you were probably the only person at the paddock that the girls hadn’t snapped at, the most Echo ever did was hiss at you.

Unfortunately these rules really were there for a reason and you were going to find that out the hard way. Today was another one of the days that Owen had to be away from the paddock for a while. As always it was business as usual, if anything came up you and Barry were there, which meant that you’d be leaving it up to Barry. Eventually maybe you’d get to Owen’s paperwork that he could rarely be bothered to do but while Owen was out you wanted to take advantage of having the girls’ attention all to yourself. You’d missed having the chance to just come in and watch them, chat at them, Charlie especially. She’d come a long way from the little raptor that clamored on to your lap the first time you met her but she was still your favorite. Sweet unpredictable Charlie that always perked up when she saw you coming. Echo still shot you a dirty look but you were beyond used to that by now.

Usually it ended at the dirty look, usually you also weren’t nearly that close to the gate but you were complacent and Charlie was always good about keeping a reasonable distance while you were talking to her. All the times Owen reminded you to watch it around the gate and you still turned your back to it when you heard someone coming down the steps. That was all Echo needed, a split-second of you not paying attention. She rushed the gate before you even realized she’d moved, just a rush of air and a wet feeling on your arm. When you turned back Echo was there and Charlie was lunging at her, trapping her sister between the ground and her foot. You didn’t attribute it to anything until you felt pain start up in your arm and realized that you were bleeding.

For Echo, you’d shown your weakness again with your constant need to talk at them, worse when you were foolish enough to turn your back on the gate. Your distraction gave her more than enough time to close the distance and get her claws through the gap. She wasn’t going to try and kill you, but she needed you to be reminded where she felt you stood in their hierarchy. The rest of the pack didn’t feel the same way, Charlie was right there and was quick to go after her sister. Charlie more than the others didn’t take well to anyone doing anything against you, either as yourself or as their alpha female and alpha’s mate. She even went so far as to ignore Blue when she commanded her to get off Echo.

“Charlie stop!” You shouted, trying to press a hand over wherever you were bleeding from and keep yourself from panicking at the same time. You heard the cage door burst open and instinctively expected Owen rather than Barry. For that moment you’d forgotten that Owen was clear on the other side of the island. Charlie looked at you and realized that you were being serious and reluctantly backed off. Even recognizing Barry as friend she wasn’t happy that he was taking you away from them. You were however, you probably would have continued standing there dumbfounded had Barry not led you from the cage. “Don’t let them hurt my girls,” You muttered, gritting your teeth against the pain. “It’s not that bad, just don’t let them hurt the girls.”

“No one is going to touch them,” Barry assured “They just have to get Echo locked up.” He wasn’t sure where you were getting the impression that it wasn’t that bad, perhaps you were in shock or just hadn’t felt your arm enough to see how far the bleeding wound extended. If it were anyone but you he’d question that your real concern was that no one harmed the raptors in any way, but this was you. Any time there was an incident you demanded that no one lay a hand on those raptors and Barry wasn’t sure if you or Owen would be worse to cross when it came to that. Everyone at the paddock knew better than to harm the girls, lest they incite the rage of you or Owen.

The medical situation at the paddock was neither here nor there. Typically there weren’t that many instances that a medical professional was immediately needed but given the nature of the animals there, a permanent medic was assigned regardless. It was a remote enough place that if care was needed and they had to wait on an airlift or rely on getting back to a med center then whoever was hurt would probably bleed to death first if that were the issue. That being said, the rare cases of care being needed meant that the paddocks medic doubled as extra help. Most times he was more helpful than the people actually hired to work there. In this particular instance, Mike had enlisted the help of Lisa since he couldn’t be sure how badly you were hurt and she had medical training.

It worked out for the best that he’d grabbed Lisa to help, one look at your torn up shirt sleeve and the blood everywhere had him forcing you to sit once you reached the tent. Once the sleeve was cut away and some of the blood was wiped up he could see enough to be surprised that you hadn’t gone in to shock already. Leaving Lisa to put pressure on the wound, he pulled Barry back out of the tent.

“You need to call Owen, tell him he needs to get back here.” Neither of them were thrilled at the idea, more than he was of the raptors, Owen was ungodly protective of you. The last thing either of them wanted to do was call Owen and tell him that not only had you been way too close to the gate again, but you’d gotten your arm slice open to boot. “We can handle her fine here but he needs to know what’s going on. Echo did a god damn number on her arm.” Mike stayed out long enough to give the instructions before grabbing his kit from his truck and going back to the tent. You might have been reasonably okay for the moment, but with the twin seven inch gashes going down the outside of your arm he needed to get them closed as soon as possible.

Despite the pain killers and the anesthetic you were given, having your arm stitched up was being marked as one of the most unpleasant experiences of your life. The meds could only do so much and you couldn’t tell whether it was the needle or the gashes that were causing the most pain. It was all you could do to focus on one thing when it seemed like this was going on forever, by the time they were finally through with you and you were bandaged up with a sling keeping your arm in place you were well past drained. It took Mike and Lisa both to lead you to the portable cot they’d set up and by the time you’d laid down you were out.

Barry on the other hand, would have gladly taken trying to close the wounds on your arm over calling Owen. That was only partly true, he didn’t have the medical training to close the wounds so he would likely have made it worse and really have a reason to worry about how Owen would react. He would take something else unpleasant at least. Especially since the last major incident there had been this sort of unspoken line, a trust between you Owen and the pack. Owen as their alpha was off limits, they didn’t go after him, even if how far that went was never tested and he gave them a wide berth. The raptors perceived you as Owen’s mate and their alpha female above even Blue and that meant that you were also off limits and to be protected. Echo more than clearly crossed that line.

“You miss me already Barry?” Of course this would be probably the only time Owen would answer on the first try. While Barry had been hoping for any delay in telling his friend that you’d been hurt, Owen had been praying for any way to get out of these boring bullshit meetings and updates and all the shit he couldn’t stand. He didn’t like being away from the paddock long, but even that wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the desk jockeys that needed to know about everything going on and how progress was. He’d make more progress if he didn’t have to be here the whole day. The park wouldn’t even have been so bad if he was enjoying it and not stuck in an office. A call from Barry could be just the fabricated excuse he needed to suddenly get back to the paddock.

“You need to come back.” If it weren’t for the tone of voice Owen would’ve thought that Barry was just calling to give him the chance to get out of whatever thing he was stuck doing. That he was saying it in case he was around someone that otherwise wouldn’t believe that Owen was needed back at his paddock. The tone of Barry’s voice screamed that it wasn’t a joke or a way for him to leave, something had happened that you and Barry couldn’t handle yourself and that was never a good thing.

“What’s going on?” Of course no one was around that he could tell he needed to go. Fuck them, he’d call later if he remembered and say that something came up. Owen silently cursed himself for being stupid enough to actually hope for a way out of this garbage. He needed to know what he was walking in to and he hoped to god it wasn’t another repeat of the last time he’d left and there had been trouble. There were still moments when that horrified look on your face flashed back in to his memory. As much as it had bothered him that the girls had killed someone, which he’d hoped they wouldn’t ever have done, the thought that they could easily have taken you down too bothered him more. They hadn’t, and that was an immense relief for him but that thought had scared him more than anything.

“Echo again. Mike has it handled but he wants you back here.” This was the last position Barry wanted to be put in. There was no good way to tell Owen that you’d gotten hurt and there was no good way to skirt around it. Even if Owen didn’t find out before he got there, he’d find out when he did and he would lose it. Plain and simple, the second Owen knew that Echo had hurt you he was going to panic, he was going to get pissed and he was going to overreact. “She’s fine, but it would be better you come back.”

Once more Barry’s tone of voice gave him away. A sick feeling lurched in Owen’s stomach and he had to lean against the wall to keep himself upright. A hundred time, probably more like a thousand times he had told you not to be so fucking close to the gate. The air felt like it had been sucked right from his lungs. He heard Barry say you were fine and in the back of his mind those words were still there but they didn’t register. How was he to know how fine Barry’s idea of fine was, for all Owen knew it could just be the easiest way for his friend to say that you weren’t dead or dying. Owen’s idea of fine was that Barry made the whole thing up to give him a heart attack and you were sitting at the paddock having a laugh at his expense, entirely unharmed.

Except he knew that you weren’t. Neither you nor Barry would do something like that to him, if anything you would’ve tried hiding that you’d gotten hurt. He felt stupid for fooling himself in to thinking that you were somehow exempt from the chance of being hurt by any of the girls just because they saw the two of you as a pair, as their leaders. One time that they could’ve killed you and didn’t wasn’t anything but that, one time. They were still wild animals that reacted like wild animals. He had been stupid to ever trust them as much as he had. Part of him wanted to throw blame on someone, anyone, for letting you alone in the cage. Blame himself even though he knew he probably rode you harder about shit like that than he did anyone else. But no one told you what to do, if you wanted to do something you’d do it regardless of what anyone had to say more often than not. Getting pissed off wasn’t going to help anything.

“I’ll be there soon. Until I get back no one else goes near the cage.” The last thing Owen wanted to deal with on top of this was someone else getting bit or clawed or anything of that variety. The girls were always agitated after they got in to it with anyone, or each other. More likely than not the other three still registered the fact that you had been hurt so they were bound to be agitated and would probably perceive anyone coming near them as a possible threat. He remembered how on edge the girls had been the last time both of you were away from the paddock when they were expecting you to be there.

The ride did little to calm Owen down, more than once he’d gotten distracted and nearly ended up off the road. He couldn’t force himself to stop thinking about how badly you were hurt, that maybe he should have asked before he hung up the phone. Bad enough that Mike was needed, not bad enough that they were bringing you to the better equipped med center in the park or calling in an airlift. That left a lot of variables, Mike was a damn good medic and there were a few other people at the paddock with medical training, there was a lot that could be handled right from the paddock without going to the park. By the time he actually got back to the paddock he was absolute wreck.

The paddock looked almost deserted, most everyone had expected him to come back in a rage and had made a serious effort to be as far from Owen as they could. The hope was that either you or the raptors would take his attention first and they wouldn’t get sworn at quite as badly. Even Barry was nowhere in sight. If anyone heard him pull in they didn’t give a sign that they had.

The pack had noticed, they’d heard the vehicle before it ever reached the paddock. They could of course smell him when he got out, but they didn’t call out like they often did when Owen had been absent for any longer than they liked. They could sense how he was feeling, sense his worry and his fear. They knew it was because of what Echo had done. They were supposed to protect their alpha and his mate like they protected the pack, Echo wasn’t supposed to attack you when your back was turned because she didn’t think you were strong enough. Even after Echo attacked you, you still stopped Charlie from really hurting her. Echo was wrong even if she didn’t see it, you were plenty strong enough to be Owen’s mate. You were good to him, you were good to the pack and even if they thought the two of you were very slow about it, one day the pack could expand. But they were supposed to protect the pack.

If they were expecting Owen to come to them they’d be sorely disappointed. He didn’t have it in him to deal with them right now. He barely had it in him to walk to the tent, his mind anticipating that he’d walk in to blood splattered canvas walls as if everything he’d been told was a lie. That he’d walk in and find you covered in a bloody sheet. It was all his imagination trying to stir up another panic. The tent was cleaner than usual if anything, the only sign that anything had happened was that Mike was still there. That alone still made Owen’s stomach lurch.

“Here we all were thinking you were going to get back here and start threatening to throw everyone in the paddock,” He tried to joke. “You look worse than she does.” Owen wanted to snap at him, tell him that he ought to try having someone call you up and tell you that your girlfriend had gotten hurt by one of your raptors. “I’m serious man, you need to sit down?”

“No I don’t need to sit down,” It came out harsher than Owen meant for it to. Mike didn’t hold it against him, he’d gotten used to Owen a long time ago and knew well enough that he didn’t screw around about the wellbeing of anyone at the paddock, let alone yours. “I need someone to tell me what the fuck happened.” He’d avoided looking in your direction until Mike gestured to the chair in front of you. If he didn’t know better, couldn’t see the pallor of your skin, he would’ve thought you just curled up for a nap. The blanket laid over you hid whatever Echo had done but you slept peacefully. Mike waited for Owen to take the seat before he said anything, sure that when he showed Owen your arm he was going to need that chair anyway.

“You’ll have to ask her what happened when she wakes up because I don’t know myself, if Barry knows he didn’t say anything. Let her wake up herself, she isn’t sedated but I’m surprised she even stayed up until we were done. It’s not as bad as it could’ve been but it isn’t pretty either,” He started, pushing the blanket down your arm. As expected Owen’s face paled and he looked a little greener under the gills. Mike could only imagine how he’d react when it came time to change out the bandages and he actually saw the damage. “It could’ve been a lot worse.”

“Her arm is bandaged from shoulder to elbow.” Owen interrupted. It was a stupid thing to nitpick about, of course it could’ve been worse but it was more for his own benefit than doubting something so obvious. You hadn’t needed to be sedated, you’d stayed conscious the entire time Mike was working on you, you looked like you were doing fine outside of being pale and tired.

“A lot of that is holding everything in place so try and keep that in mind. I’ll skip reminding you how to take care of stitches, both of you know that well enough by now. Once you’re filled in I’m going to take off and get her meds, once I’m back with them you can take her home. Do you want to know now or just see for yourself later?” He questioned, replacing the blanket over your arm.

“Just tell me how bad it is.” He wasn’t a child and this game of trying to figure out what happened by guessing was getting old. Obviously it wasn’t a bite mark, you would’ve needed to have stuck your entire arm through the bars and either let Echo nibble on it or your arm would’ve ended up broken from the force of her coming in to actually bite it. Which meant that you were close enough that Echo got her claws through the gate.

“She’s got two gashes going down the outside of her arm, deep enough that she needed stitches for both of them but not deep enough that anything should be permanently damaged. She needs to keep her arm in the sling or she’ll probably end up tearing stitches. She’s goddamn lucky they didn’t go much deeper or we would’ve had a problem and I told her the same thing. She swears up and down that Echo wasn’t trying to really hurt her. You’ve got some kind of goddamn woman Grady, more concerned that someone might go near the raptors than how bad one of them cut her up. She is something else.”

Owen wanted to be surprised but he wasn’t, from the moment you came in the girls had been your number one priority to the point that he could admit that you probably cared for them even more than he did. He took the realistic approach that yes, it seemed like they were a happy raptor/human unit but given the chance and a reason he was still pretty sure the pack would kill them both. Maybe not in a situation if they were to step in to the paddock, but if they ever got loose and you and Owen stood between them and what they wanted then he figured it was a good possibility. He let you think of the girls how you wanted but the reality of it was that they were dangerous animals and Echo had shown that today. Even still you’d apparently insisted she hadn’t meant to do real harm to you, he wasn’t sure what you considered real harm when your entire upper arm was wrapped in bandages. It made him wonder if you really even realized the damage Echo had done or if you’d thought Mike was just exaggerating.

“She’ll be fine, probably be glad to see you when she wakes up,” Mike added before disappearing from the tent. The hand Owen ran down the side of your face as he pushed your hair back made him actually realize that the blanket over you was there because shock and blood loss had left your skin cold and clammy. He could feel the warmth returning to it, see that your breathing was even and it calmed him at least to a small point. He kept having to remind himself that yes you were hurt, but you were okay. He just had to give it some time and you’d wake up and tell him that same thing yourself. In the quiet it felt like hours passed before you’d even started to stir, in reality it hadn’t been hours at all.

“Hey you,” Came the soft rasp, snapping Owen’s attention from the pacing he’d resorted to so he didn’t just sit there staring at you. In an instant he was back at your side, kneeling next to the cot so he could be right next to you instead of hovering from the chair. As his thumb caressed your cheek he could feel the warmth that had seeped back in to your skin but nothing compared to the warmth that radiated from the small smile you gave him. “I take it Barry called you.”

You couldn’t be sure if it was whatever Mike had given you or just a combination of everything but even the cot felt like you were on a cloud, floating around instead of lying there in surprise that Owen hadn’t lost his shit yet. In the back of your mind you half wondered what time it was, why it was so quiet. When you were asleep you’d dreamt that he was there, that you could feel his touch on your skin. You were starting to realize that it probably had just been you in a state of partial consciousness.

“Yeah, he called and said you’re a god damn trouble maker and I needed to get back here and deal with you.”

“Liar, I’m an angel and you know it.”

“You’re hell on wheels and you scare the fucking hell out of me.” That was enough to make you pause. Light banter aside you were both only doing it to take the attention away from the situation. As much as you’d tried to focus on the thought of Owen when you were having your arm stitched up, it was for comfort. Trying to imagine him there with you assuring you that it would be over in a little bit. You avoided considering how he was going to react to this, how he’d feel finding out that you’d gotten hurt while he was away doing something he didn’t want to be doing in the first place. You had tried your best to stay awake the whole time, hoping that when Mike was done you could call Owen yourself to at least let him hear from you that you were okay and that you’d see him soon.

“I don’t mean to. I wanted to call you myself, so you wouldn’t have to worry.” You said softly, trying to use your good arm to push yourself up. In the end Owen pulled the chair back alongside the cot and helped you sit up before sitting across from you. You wobbled once and you were pulled over on to his lap. You couldn’t complain, he was something stable to lean on and you got the small satisfaction of getting this kind of attention while you were technically still at work. You wanted to ask about the girls but it wasn’t the time for that.

"You calling wouldn't have stopped me from worrying. There isn't a damn thing that you can do to keep me from worrying about you,” He responded, kissing the top of your head. He just wanted to take you home, he didn’t want to deal with the responsibilities of running the paddock right now he just wanted to take you home, get you in to bed and stay with you there until he was satisfied that you were okay. But he couldn’t, as your boyfriend and your boss he had to be on top of this. “What happened?”

"I hope you aren't expecting some spectacular story because there really isn’t anything to tell except that I’m stupid and I turned away from the gate. I was talking to Charlie, I heard someone coming and I turned. I didn’t think anything of it at all because Echo was nowhere near the gate and Charlie is always so good about staying back. Next think I know Charlie has Echo on the ground, Blue was yelling at them both and I was bleeding.”

“Charlie went after Echo?” No one had thought to mention that to him, one more thing he’d have to check on before he could take you home.

“Yeah, until I yelled at her to stop and she backed off,” You were almost missing the fog in your head. You would have thought that someone would have told Owen that at least. Had anyone even bothered to make sure that Echo was okay? “Owen.”

“I know,” He responded, standing up with you before turning to set you down in the chair. He didn’t necessarily want to leave you, but if Barry called him right after the incident and he’d told Barry that no one was to go in the cage then more likely than not the most that had been done was separating Echo from the others. Almost as soon as he’d set you down you were trying to stand up. “I can handle it, you need to rest.”

“I need to check on them. I’ve had a lot of time to think between then and now and you going in there alone to check on Echo isn’t going to help anything.”

“What are you even talking about?!”

“She’s never going to accept me as your mate or as the alpha female or as anything if I let everyone else do everything. She thinks I’m too weak to be her leader, that’s why she went after me.”

“You’re delirious and you need to go back to sleep.”

“Don’t talk to me like I’m crazy Owen. Or have you forgotten that when I was brought on here it was because I understand pack behavior. She didn’t trust me to start off with and ever since that last incident all she ever gives me is attitude and dirty looks. She expects me to handle anything threatening the pack, including us, and not just leave it to you or them.”

“You’re getting all of this from her attacking you the second you weren’t paying attention?” Maybe you weren’t entirely wrong that he’d forgotten what originally brought you to the paddock. It wasn’t like there had been an introduction period with the two of you. You arrived and a few hours later the two of you were together. He’d just accepted your presence as it was and didn’t give much more consideration outside of how well you meshed with the girls. It wasn’t that he didn’t care that it was your field of expertise, he’d just accepted what you knew as an extension of you and anything you said that went with that was just you being you.

“I noticed it the first day, the way she stuck to you and went out of her way to try and protect you from me because she considered me an intruder. None of us gave her a choice when it came to me being around, one day I just was and even though her sisters accepted us as being together she just hasn’t. She’s continually been the slowest of the four of them to trust anything. This is her way of testing me, she’s trying to see if I’m just going to let you and the girls deal with it or if I handle it myself. I could see it in her eyes when I told Charlie to back off, she didn’t expect me to step in.”

“You’re really being serious right now. She could have killed you and you want me to take you back in the cage when you’ve barely got enough energy to stay conscious.”

“I’m fine, I’ll sleep more later but I’ll be fine for a while as long as I don’t go and try to run a marathon. Please. She’s never going to trust me as part of the pack otherwise unless I show her that I handle situations. I’m not asking you to let me go play with her, I just need to show her right now that I’m not just going to run off and let you handle it because she hurt me.” It felt like a long shot, that Owen would go along with your plan but you had to try. You were so sure that you were right about this. Blue had always gravitated to Owen, the pair of alphas as they were. She had accepted you because Owen accepted you, she saw you as someone that Owen had brought to them rather than some new female in her territory. She couldn’t deny you when her alpha had so clearly claimed you as his from the first day the pack had seen you.

The pack had seen it as their alpha bringing them his mate. They hadn’t paid much mind to you at first, thinking you were just another silly female that though she could get close to Owen, but then he came up to the walkways too. He certainly hadn’t behaved like that with the other girls they’d scared off, like he wanted to take her right there above them. Echo hadn’t liked her from the second Owen walked in to the cage with his arm around you like he had and she made it very clear. You hadn’t even been phased, not by Echo hissing at you or Charlie on your lap, not even when Blue and Delta jumped on you. You’d just laid there and let them investigate you. Neither one of you had even cared when Echo tried to pull Owen away to make him get away from you.

Their alpha kept you close to him most times while the pack was still getting used to you being there, by the time you came in one morning still smelling of what you and their alpha had done the night before, and again that morning, Echo was the only one that didn’t want to accept you as Owen’s mate. Blue stayed closets to Owen, Delta to Barry and Charlie to you. Despite that, you were always the first to defend Echo, even when she hurt someone. And when that man pushed you, Echo was the one that had pulled him under the gate and drug him screaming to the rest of the pack. Echo considered you too weak to lead them but failed to see that you were repeatedly protecting not only them as a pack but as individuals. Charlie had every right to deal with Echo when she attacked you but you put a stop to it before she could even do anything. Echo would have to realize eventually, before she completely broke the balance of trust that you and Owen had in them.

Regardless of what Echo thought of your ability to lead the pack, to be an alpha, you had no real problems getting Owen to cave. He probably figured that if he brought you along you’d drop the subject sooner and problem solved, but if he left you in the tent you’d try to follow him and you could get hurt or any number of irrational things his mind came up with. It was better to let you come check on the girls with him. If he’d have known how you would react he might’ve left you in the tent anyway. Not that he didn’t have the same reaction.

Normally you had no problem with use of the restraints, they were helpful and they were safe. You made every effort once you got to the cage to walk on your own, right in to the cage and right over to where Echo was locked up. The other three were still loose in their paddock, eying you and Owen cautiously lest their alpha deem them all as responsible as Echo. Your concern was making sure that Echo hadn’t been too badly injured by Charlie during their brief scuffle. What set you off was that either whoever locked Echo up hadn’t bothered to notice her injuries or didn’t care that most of them were being rubbed by the restraints. The marks on her snout looked irritated and with the way it looked like the parts holding her neck to prevent her from getting her head free were rubbing her neck it was no wonder she looked so miserable. The wounds could heal just fine on their own without jeopardizing her health but you didn’t like seeing her suffer needlessly.

“Let her out, right now!” You demanded, running your hand along the underside of her neck to check for any other injury while you could still do so without risking a bite. Owen looked as pissed as you did, it should have gone without saying that any effort to keep Echo separated from the others should have been done with regard to her well-being, not locked in restraints that were rubbing on injuries. For the first time that he’d noticed, Echo wasn’t looking at you with distaste. “I know it hurts sweetie.” She tried to sooth, sitting on the stool Owen pulled over. “Get the restraints, obviously these idiots are too busy hiding from you to listen,” You half snapped when the mechanisms remained closed. They could be operated by two control panels, the one inside the cage requiring a key that only you, Owen and Barry had a copy of. “Don’t give me shit, just open them.”

He had to bite his tongue and consider you lucky that he was letting you try and play this game with Echo. The whole reason that the inside panel needed a key was because when the restraints opened it was too easy for the girls to get their head loose and end up biting someone. He didn’t like you sitting that close to Echo but she was watching both of you, gauging who was calling the shots. He gave Echo a warning look that there would be hell to pay if she tried to bite you then turned the panel on and cut her loose.

“Yeah, I bet that feels a lot better,” You soothed, half expecting her to pull her head back far enough to get it loose and then pop out to bite you. When she did pull back, you cautiously reached forward to rub the side of her face before she bolted from the enclosed area and back to the main paddock. Echo attempted to rejoin her sisters only to be stopped by an angry hiss from Blue and a warning glance from Delta and Charlie. “You three let me find a new mark on her when I get back and see what happens,” You warned before you and Owen left the cage again.

“Girl you just can’t quit while you’re ahead can you?”

“Had to check on my girl, I had supervision the whole time!” You wouldn’t admit to Mike that the trip was exhausting any more than you would admit to Owen that making a point to Echo or not, you really ought to have stayed in the tent and waited for him. Mike was back now though so he could clear you to go home. You were sure Owen would be more than happy to curl up in bed with you.

“Get your ass home and sleep before Owen ends up having to carry you,” He warned, tossing a bag to Owen. He knew better than to even bother reminding Owen to make you take it easy.

“Hold this,” Owen remarked, passing you the bag once Mike was out of sight. You shot him a quizzical look that he only grinned at before picking you up and carrying you back to the jeep.

“Absolutely unnecessary Owen!”

“I let you in with Echo, I let you sit there when her head was loose even though it fucking killed me to do it. Just quit acting like you’re feeling great and let me take care of you for once.” You wanted to fight him on this so badly. You were completely capable of walking to the jeep and you both knew that you were capable of taking care of yourself just fine. Still, Owen had cut you a hell of a lot more slack than you thought he would have and you knew that you’d probably worried him a hell of a lot more than he was showing. He’d let you go see Echo without that much of a fight, the least you could do was let him take care of you for a bit. You weren’t happy about it and it was a bit of a bruise to your pride but if it made Owen feel better about the whole ordeal then you’d do it.

“I never said I was feeling great, just implied that I’m capable of walking myself. But okay, you win. I’m sure I probably about ruined your day so fine. You can take care of me just this once. I can totally do it myself but I’m going to let you do it instead as repayment for me not listening and scaring the hell out of you, and I’ll try not to start arguing with you about it.”

By the time the relatively short drive home was through, you were tired enough that it was necessary for Owen to carry you inside. But you definitely hadn’t asked him to. Owen however, would take what he could get. It was incredibly rare that you let him take care of you for anything and he was going to milk this as much as you’d let him. You hadn’t told him that you were tired but your delay in even so much as moving to get out of the jeep told him well enough. You were asleep in his arms before he’d even gotten you inside. Owen considered that it probably would’ve been good for him to get you to at least drink some juice, maybe have a light snack but he didn’t want to wake you up.

Owen was careful when he changed you out of your work outfit but a bomb probably could’ve gone off in the room and you’d have slept through it. The thought crossed his mind to join you for a nap but sleep evaded him and he settled for letting you stay curled up against his chest with his arms around you. He was hoping that Barry handled the reports for the day, especially considering Owen had just what information you’d given him and he planned on taking the next day off with the excuse of giving you time to recuperate and needing someone to keep an eye on you. If anyone questioned it he was sure that Mike would back him up.

The sun was still out when you woke up with your arm throbbing but otherwise comfortable. You probably couldn’t have been uncomfortable if you tried, waking up nestled against Owen with his arms around you. You didn’t think he’d been asleep, even without knowing how long you’d slept this time you could be reasonably sure he’d just laid there with you like he often did if you decided to take a nap. Anymore you didn’t really have time for naps, let alone both of you having time for lying in bed like this. The paddock was so busy that most times by the time you got home there was time for a quick dinner and then getting some sleep.

“You should stay home tomorrow,” You heard him mutter after you shifted. “Give it a day and take it easy.”

“Implying that I won’t just get bored out of my mind and end up doing something stupid,” You laughed.

“You’ll have me to keep you company.”

“Ooh, then I think I can definitely stay home,” You responded, moving to grin up at him. “This has nothing to do with me taking it easy does it?”

“Wouldn’t say nothing, but it’s a pretty good reason to have a day off.”

“You really are the best you know that.” Even as much as you hated the idea of being babied like this, he really was amazing. Before he’d gone off to make dinner Owen made sure that you were comfortable, that your arm wasn’t giving you too much trouble and that you could just lie there comfortably. It had been so long since the two of you had time to actually cook a meal and eat it together that you couldn’t be bothered to care. It had been quick meals for too long and even if he wouldn’t let you help cook the promise of a nice meal together had you over the moon.

If that wasn’t enough to remind you that you were most definitely dating the most amazing man on the planet then the picnic dinner at duck would definitely have done it. It made you feel like a teenager, looking out over the water with your face heating up every time Owen even glanced at you and it was most definitely Owen that was making you feel this giddy, but if the pain meds were helping it a little bit that was fine by you. You were going to enjoy this rare chance to spend time with him, time that he was taking at the cost of that much more work that he’d have to do when you both went back to work. Even letting him baby you was worth it for the way his face lit up when you let him feed you.

Your injured state aside Owen couldn’t put words to how happy just being with you like this made him. It wasn’t as if your relationship lacked romance, even with its rather unconventional beginning. Back then it had been easy to find time for each other, the girls had been young and didn’t need as much work and attention. Now it was just all work all the time, one thing or another popping up that usually resulted in short nights or being too tired to do anything. Neither of you resented having to devote so much time to the girl, you just both wished there was more time for each other. Owen would’ve just been happy with a few more times like this, but this could work.

“I should let you spoil me more often,” You laughed “You get all chill and grinny and affectionate. I like it.” You added as he kissed your neck

“Told you before you’d like letting me spoil you sometimes.”

“You were definitely right. I think special dessert is in order for how absolutely right you were.” He was already practically playing at going that direction anyway. You just thought he’d need a little nudge from you to move him past having to wonder if you felt up for it. As usually even a little hint was all it took to have Owen’s hand up your shirt albeit less frantically than it usually tended to be for obvious reasons.

If Owen would have let you and you didn’t consider the possibility of someone showing up in the morning to check on you, you would have been perfectly content falling asleep outside. Sort of a lie, you’d have needed to get dressed before you’d have been willing to fall asleep outside, you didn’t trust the bugs but that aside you would have been perfectly content falling back asleep curled up with Owen. Instead you redressed as much as you cared to and went back inside to wait for Owen to finish the dishes he insisted he had to do tonight or he’d forget about them. Which was probably true but you just wanted to get the bandages on your arm changed out already, curl up with your man and go to sleep again. If you could’ve you would’ve skipped changing the bandages at all but you couldn’t.

Owen felt about the same way, a large part of him wasn’t really up for seeing the gashes on your arm but it needed done. He’d end up seeing them eventually anyway. His sharp intake of breath gave away to you that all the bandages were off, even if the air you could feel on the wounds hadn’t done so already. Owen wasn’t sure if he expected worse or better than the clean lines going down your arm, still angry and red as they were held closed by the neat stitches. He was reluctant to let you see the damage for yourself but held himself back from pulling you back down to the bed as you moved to the bathroom mirror to look at your arm.

You were floored by the sight, however deep they may have been the cuts seemed massive. That you had simply walked from the cage at all, let alone to the tent seemed farfetched. You couldn’t believe that you hadn’t bled out, that you hadn’t even needed to be taken to the med center. You were so distracted by how you possibly could have not even realized how badly you’d been hurt that Owen leading you back to the bed barely registered with you. If this was Echo trying to challenge you, you hated to imagine what she’d have done if she had been trying to seriously do damage.

“Baby?” Owen’s voice shook you from your thoughts, making you realize that your arm had already been bandaged back up. “You okay?”

“Yeah I just…I didn’t even realize.”

“I didn’t figure you did.”

“Everyone probably thinks I’m out of my mind.”

“We all knew that a while ago,” He teased “How tired are you?”

“Kind of tired but not super tired if that makes sense. I could sleep but I don’t feel like I need to right this moment. Why?”

“Just something that I wanted to do before we go to sleep.”

Your “recovery” day went by faster than either of you would have liked. You woke up refreshed and energized enough that Owen didn’t push too hard for you to lounge around all day. With your arm in the sling it wasn’t quite as easy to enjoy the day but you were spending it together so even when you ended up just helping him tinker with the bikes you were satisfied. Owen didn’t bother putting up a fight about you coming back with him the next day so long as you still took it easy with your arm.

Aside from Barry and Mike, the rest of the team seemed surprised that you would come back already, or that Owen was letting you. All of them were more equally surprised by the glint caught in the sun when you shifted your arm in the sling.

“You didn’t!”

“He did!” You laughed, wiggling your finger at Barry. You half expected that Barry would’ve known that Owen had been planning this but clearly he was as surprised as you had been.

“And you said yes?!”

“Yes Michael, I said yes. Repeatedly.”

“Very repeatedly, she didn’t stop all night,” Owen chimed, getting and elbow to his ribs from you.

“Not quite what I meant by bed rest.”

“Don’t encourage him Mike. Besides, my arm was resting just fine.” You said with a roll of your eyes. “Don’t you have jobs to be doing?” You waited until they’d left to turn and glower at Owen. “Real cute.”

“We both know you aren’t really mad at me,” He tried, looping an arm around you.

“Uh uh smart ass. Go do your paper work or something,” You returned, slapping his arm away.

“My paperwork in the office, where you said this morning you plan on spending the afternoon?” Cheeky bastard. You would have to come up with a good way to get him back, especially you heard Mike yell a comment about desk jobs on your way to the office and Owen had to drag you away swearing at him.

Neither you nor Owen went in the cage or up on the catwalks the first day back, continue the silent treatment and ignore the girls calling out because they knew you were both there. The second day you both went up for a few minutes but not much longer than that. You continued the game for a few weeks, letting them see you but not really acknowledging them. Echo didn’t like the game, when you and Owen were on the catwalks she followed below you. By the time you decided you’d gotten the point across Echo had the other three following beneath as well.

Rather than trying to run a drill like Owen normally would, you took control for the day to not only your coworkers’ confusion but the pack’s as well. No one was as confused as Echo. Why was Owen ignoring her, why did he lock up her sisters but not her? More than that was the way he stepped aside when you entered the cage and that you didn’t show her any signs of fear, just marked right up to the gate. She could see the scars that she’d left on your arm and the unusual shining thing on your finger that hadn’t been there when she got you. She didn’t know what it was but her alpha seemed very fond of touching it when he was up on the catwalks with you.

“Open the gate.” You stated, having gone over the plan with Owen before you’d ever even gotten to the paddock. You didn’t move your eyes from Echo, just stood there with your arms crossed, waiting for the gate to raise. If Echo looked surprised by you before, utter shock would describe her now. Even Owen didn’t open the gate when one of them was out. “Well come on Echo, if you want to challenge me so badly. You aren’t so tough when my back isn’t turned.” You knew she didn’t understand that you were essentially calling her a coward, but you had been expecting it when she started to approach. She was cautious about it, anticipating some sort of trick. Owen meanwhile was on the verge of a heart attack having to stand back and let you do this.

Echo eyed Owen as she approached you, expecting him to step in and keep her away from you. He only glanced at her before returning his attention to Blue. Blue gave only a growl to Echo to remind her that if she tried to hurt you again, no command from you would stop them from taking their rightful justice. Even almost face to nose with her, you gave no indication of fear towards Echo. She noticed something else different about you and angled her head to look at you. Your smell was off, it was… No, even if you hadn’t shown her that you would stand up to her and make pack decisions without the alpha’s help she couldn’t hurt you now. You were confused by her behavior, by the way she called something to her sisters who seemed to take another smell of the air before calling back to her. Any further action you anticipated from Echo didn’t happen. She seemed to nod her head before retreating back to the other end of the paddock. She supposed now that she’d have to consider you alpha’s mate regardless.

“Okay specialist, what the hell was that?” Owen questioned when he walked back over and closed the gate. When he released the other three they all loitered by the gate, staring at the two of you.

“Bizarre? I don’t know what they’re doing.” You responded, taking an overly cautious step away from the gate anyway. Trust them or not they’d gotten exceptionally odd all of a sudden. You were still trying to figure out why Echo had looked at you like that. “Don’t look at me like that I don’t know what every single thing they do means.”

“Wild guess?”

“I don’t have one! Jesus Christ Echo!” You exclaimed, nearly tripping yourself when she suddenly appeared between her sisters, crouching down to stick her snout through the bars and stare at you. “You do know that I’m up here right?” You were quite alright with Owen nudging you out of the cage. “God they’ve gotten weird,” You muttered after they all started calling after you.

“I don’t know what they’re doing any more than you do baby.”

“Whatever, I think I smoothed things over with Echo well enough, we’ll have to see.”

“Stay away from the gate!”

“I meant in general. I’ve learned my lesson, I swear.”

“Better have.”

“Two big scars are enough for me, now go wrangle your raptors and get them to do something productive,” You half laughed, giving him a quick kiss before shoving him towards the stairs and wandering off to catch up on the rest of your paperwork. If you couldn’t figure out what was up with the girls now, you would soon enough.


End file.
